Synopsis

With amusing illustrations to accompany the lucidly written explanations, this introduction to medical statistics almost feels like reading a comic book at times. The illustrations help readers quickly grasp how statistics are used and interpreted in medical and nursing research.

In order to make what can be a dry subject more enjoyable for those learning about medical statistics and epidemiology for the first time, author Yoshimitsu Hiejima adopts the framework of a story in which a fictitious study is being carried out. The story is set in the town of Checkela, where a professor and his research assistant are investigating a strange sickness known as “purupulu disease,” whose incidence has been growing from year to year. Readers follow the narrative and learn from the many embedded explanations of statistical methods and terminology as the two design their study, carry it out, and analyze the data. 104 key terms are introduced with clear, concise explanations, and the colorful illustrations appearing on nearly every page entertain as they teach. In this single volume, budding researchers can acquire the basic knowledge of statistics and epidemiology they need for producing or abstracting research papers.

About the Author

Yoshimitsu Hiejima (1966–) was born in Miyazaki Prefecture. After completing his undergraduate degree in the Faculty of Mathematics at Kyushu University in 1989, he joined Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (now MSD) and spent the next five years analyzing clinical-trial data. In 1994 he returned to school at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies to study statistical science, and completed his doctorate there in 1997. He worked as an adjunct researcher at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics before joining the Faculty of Healthcare at Tokyo Healthcare University in 2005 as an assistant professor. He became a full professor in 2009. Books by this author